Our view: Be a responsible pet owner

By the Midland Daily News

Published 9:00 am, Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Without fail, it seems like every spring or summer the Midland Daily News receives at least one letter-to-the-editor or Facebook posting that admonishes dog owners for not picking up their dog’s droppings.

Some write kindly about it. Others are direct and to the point.

But the intent of the message is the same — be a responsible pet owner. It’s an annoying problem for many neighbors to have to deal with.

So what happens when the problem continues? If you live in the small town of Brunete, Spain, about 20 miles from Madrid, your dog’s droppings could end up in the mail and sent right to your mailbox. Talk about things going full circle.

Yes, Midland isn’t the only community in this world to deal with such issues. Even in the beautiful country of Spain, such matters must be dealt with.

Here’s how this issue was described in an article on the website telegraph.co.uk/news: “During the course of a week a team of 20 volunteers patrolled the town’s streets on the lookout for dog owners who failed to scoop. They then approached the guilty owner and struck up a casual conversation to discover the name of the dog.

“With the name of the dog and the breed it was possible to identify the owner from the registered pet database held in the town hall,” explained a spokesman from the council. The volunteers then scooped up the excrement and packaged it in a box branded with town hall insignia and marked ‘Lost Property’ and delivered by courier to the pet owners home.”

That may be taking it to the extreme, but the point is this — it is a frustrating problem to experience in countless communities. In Brunete, the problem is handled an unique way. In New York, dog owners can be fined up to $1,000 for failing to scoop their pet’s poop. In Midland, fines also can be issued if the problem is not corrected with the pet owner and complaints continue. It could end up as a criminal complaint (misdemeanor) in 75th District Court, and violation could result in up to 90 days in jail and/or $500 fine.

As you can plainly see, this problem is not taken lightly by those in authority.

So, once again, we encourage pet owners to be responsible and clean up after your pet. We appreciate it — and so do your neighbors.